Greenlee knew her father would be turning in early; earlier then her mother at least, because tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and tomorrow night was the big Masquerade. Mary would undoubtedly be up half the night watching over the maids and such as everything was being set up. But not Roger, he'd be exhausted from the maze and want to rest as much as possible.
So as soon as Greenlee was sure she could find her dad alone, she took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the master bedroom door.
"Nothing more, Rose. Good night." Roger's voice called.
"No, dad," Greenlee felt her hands trembling. Was it supposed to be this hard for a girl to talk to her dad?
"It's me. Greenlee."
There was a slight shuffle sound, immediately followed by the door swinging open. Roger was wearing his purple robe. Purple for royalty, of course.
"Ah, Greenlee, come in!"
Greenlee stopped shaking. He was in a good mood, which was a major relief. She stepped inside the grand master bedroom. It was quite possibly the nicest room in the entire house, though none of the guests ever saw it.
Mossy hues on the walls established a soothing tone that settled Greenlee's soul. More than twenty fabrics were used for the suite's draperies, bedding, and upholstered pieces, all assorted with beautiful, soft shades of green. The furniture included a mix of custom, antique, and store-bought pieces. This room was for the most part off-limits to Greenlee as a child, but she used to sneak in all the time...
"Hey daddy," She hugged him. "How's Christmas been treating you?"
"Splendid." He said coolly, "This year sure has been something, hasn't it?"
"You have no idea..."
Greenlee hopped up on the bed.
"How's your Christmas been this year, dear?" He took a seat in his chair, starting to prepare a pipe.
"It's been great, the house looks wonderful as always, and everyone is so happy."
"Yes. This is my favorite time of year."
He lit his pipe.
"Really? How come?"
"Because the entire family gathers and fights are kept to a minimum. There's always fights on Easter and Thanksgiving."
"Yeah, well, it's hard to keep this bunch happy sometimes."
Greenlee idly smoothed out the soft fabric of the blankets on the bed with her hand.
"Dad," She paused to clear her throat, "I want to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"It's the house."
"Yes, what about it?"
"You know our deal?"
"About the house?"
"I mean, the inheritance thing." Greenlee was feeling nervous again.
"Well, what about it?" He asked.
"I don't know if it's really, well... fair."
"Now, Greenlee, we made an agreement on this long before you were born."
"That's kind of my point. You just assumed you'd be having a son, you didn't plan for a daughter."
Roger fell silent. He puffed his pipe, staring off at seemingly nothing. Greenlee could tell she had upset him.
"Sorry daddy. Good night." She stood up and began to leave, but he stopped her.
"Greenlee, wait. There's something your mom and I never told you."
Greenlee stopped. She turned around slowly.
"What..?"
"Have you ever wondered why you're an only child?"
"Mom told me..." Greenlee's lips trembled, "She said she had trouble conceiving..."
"That's right. It was supposed to be impossible for her."
"Impossible?" Greenlee was nervously fidgeting with her fingers.
"Yes. Your mother..." He paused and sighed, "...this is hard for me to tell you."
Greenlee's heart was racing, "Was I... adopted?" She blurted out.
Roger looked surprised, "Oh, no, no, Greenlee. That's not what I was getting at at all."
"Then what is it?"
"You had a brother."
She froze.
"D-did I just hear you right? I have a brother?"
Roger took a deep breath before going on.
"You had a brother, honey. An older brother. When your mother gave birth there were serious complications, he died and your mother barely survived. After that the doctors told us it would be impossible for her to conceive."
Greenlee stood silent.
"You were a miracle. Born on the greenest and brightest day of spring. What was even more of a miracle was that there were absolutely no problems during birth, and your mother had a relatively short and painless labor."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Mary didn't want you to know."
"I had no idea, daddy... I'm, I'm sorry I brought it up."
"No, dear, it's alright. You were right to wonder about the will."
"But I still don't understand..."
Roger sighed, "Your mother and I feel like we would be cheating our son if we gave what was rightfully his away for nothing."
Greenlee's mouth dropped slightly, she felt like he had just slapped her across the face.
"I'm just as much your child as he was, you know." She said becoming annoyed, "And anyway, he's dead. Do you think he'll really care?" Greenlee was beginning to speak out of anger.
"What does me getting married have to do with any of it? Do you even realize how stupid this is?"
Roger wasn't surprised by her distemper.
"I didn't think you cared about the money that much."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Greenlee, as soon as you were eight-teen you left. You moved to California to try and get as far away from as you could. That doesn't really show me that you have any interest in getting this house."
She couldn't argue with that one.
"When you get married, then I'll know that you've grown up. You wouldn't marry just anyone for the sake of just anything. I know you'll make the right decision when it comes to men, you always have. When you eventually do get married, I know you'll be ready to take on this house. But I would never imagine of giving it to you as you are now."
Another slap. That could even count as two.
Greenlee kissed her father's cheek goodbye, then left the room, carefully closing the door behind her.
After she was back in her room, she laid in bed for many hours pondering over what she had just been told. She thought about her brother, about what he would have looked like. She thought about what her mother must have gone through after he died, and she thought about how happy it must have been when she came around.
With a deep and heavy sigh, she wished more than anything that the next two days would pass by quickly. She couldn't wait to go home to Pine Valley.
- Chapter 10 -
Today was the day. The only day that actually made Christmas worth the trip. The day that everything was different from how it usually was. The day of the Masquerade.
Greenlee knew that tonight everyone would be dressed up, and she wouldn't be able to tell her cousin Jimmy from her cousin Josh. She wouldn't be able to tell Uncle David from her Uncle Sean, her Aunt Kelly from her Aunt Maria, Andrew Crandlemire from Leo Du`pres.
Woah. Wait a second.
What if she really couldn't tell which was Leo, and which was Andrew? She suddenly started to panic. They were the same height and about the same build, but Leo was a bit skinner perhaps.
"Oh damn, why does their hair have to be the same color?" she muttered to herself.
Of course, she could probably just find out from Amy. Amy, Annie, Teresa, Jacky, Olivia and Mady had a tradition of ruining eachother's evenings by finding out who was who. Not like it was hard or anything, they just couldn't help but model off their costumes to eachother. It was very possible that one of them knew how Andrew would be dressed.
Wait, did Greenlee really want to stoop to that level? Yes. Yes she did.
Greenlee found two of her cousin's having a snack in the kitchen, "Hey Amy, Annie."
"Hey Greenlee," Annie said. Amy didn't even turn around.
"Hey, Aimes, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was clearly jealous, don't you think?"
Amy whirled around on her stool; you could tell by her expression that her brain suddenly had some sort of revolutionary thought and she realized for the first time in her life that maybe, just maybe, Greenlee had been jealous of her. Of course Greenlee hadn't been really, she just said that to avoid more angry words.
Amy let out a little laugh, clearly fake, "Oh Greenlee, how silly of you."
"Yeah, I'm pretty silly. So do you guys know what Andrew will be wearing to the Masquerade?"
Amy's expression returned to it's familiar hostile state.
"I don't," Annie said.
"Why do you want to know?" Amy asked.
"So I can avoid him." She said, which was entirely true. The guy didn't seem half bad now that she was getting to know the real him, but she still didn't want to get stuck dancing with him. She wanted to track down Leo and make sure she was dancing with him when that clock struck midnight.
"I don't know what he'll be wearing."
"Shouldn't you find out?"
"Why, isn't the point of this so it's a surprise?" Annie said.
"Yeah. You guys know about the chiming clock as well as I though."
Annie and Amy both rolled their eyes simutaniously, "Oh yes, we know." they said together.
"Wouldn't it suck to be dancing with, I don't know, your brother when the clock chimed?"
Amy glanced at Annie. Annie glanced at Amy.
Amy stuck her tongue out, "They wouldn't really make me kiss Josh, would they?"
Annie shook her head quickly, "No way."
The "chiming clock" was a tradition that the family had amused itself with for generations. The Masquerade dancing lasts until midnight and when the clock gongs it's last on the twelth hour, everyone stops dancing. The music is stopped, and a frightfully unusual silence hovers for about ten seconds. At this time, the person you are dancing with removes your mask (male always removes female first, followed by the female removing the males) and then they give eachother a kiss as a sign of love, respect, or just appreciation. Greenlee always thought it was stupid, and she wondered how year after year the amusing situation of a brother and sister accidently dancing together had not yet happened. She almost laughed out loud at the thought of Josh and Amy as they removed eachother's masks...
"That's never happened before," Annie said interupting Greenlee's thoughts, "so there's no reason for it to happen now."
Amy nodded in agreement, trying to console herself more than anyone else, then she said, "I'll make a deal with you, Greens."
Greenlee's ears perked, "What kind of deal?" she asked suspiciously.
"You found out what Andrew will be dressed as, and I'll find out what - what's his name? Luke?"
"Leo?"
"Yes, I'll find out what Leo is dressing as."
"Why would I want to know what Leo is dressing as?"
A small smile crept across Greenlee's lips as she watched Amy's face fill with frustration.
"Because you like him. Duh!"
"Yeah, Greenlee, you guys are always sneaking off into the library together." Annie added.
Greenlee rolled her eyes; she should of figured her cousins would notice something like that and take it completely the wrong way.
"Leo's a good friend."
"Friend? Right. Listen, when you're ready to admit your feelings for this guy and you desperatly want to know who he is at the dance, then you come find me, okay?" Amy got up off her stool and strolled casually out of the kitchen, feeling proud of herself by thinking she had proved some sort of big point. Just as she left, Jacky and Olivia came bouncing in, holding their dresses safely protected under black trash bags.
"Annie, come look at my dress! It's absolutly gorgeous!" Olivia shrieked.
Greenlee took that oppertunity to slip out of the kitchen, suddenly realizing that she didn't have a dress. It wouldn't be hard to find one, it was just the pain of having to drive all the way out to the city for a stupid dress. Oh, who was she kidding? She couldn't wait to pick out a fabulous costume that would blow Leo's socks off!
Greenlee was hurrying up the stairs that connected the second and third floors. When she reached the top, she could hear laughing in the first bedroom to the right. It was loud, and it was clearly Jimmy's. She shook her head, wondering what Josh and Jim were up to now. Then she came to an abrupt halt when she heard what she swore was Leo's laugh mixed in as well. She took a couple steps back and put her ear up to the door. She could hear muffled voices.
"....if she misses this, then she's blind...."
"...are you guys sure about this..."
"...she'll get it, Greens is a smart girl..."
"What!?" Greenlee said aloud. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
"Did you hear that?" Josh's voice said in a whisper.
Greenlee wasted no time in bolting down the hall and dashing quickly into her room. She immediatly picked up the phone that was sitting on her night stand. She pushed the # key and patiently waited as it rung.
"Extension number?" An electronic voice answered.
Greenlee pushed the five.
"Thank you. Please hold."
Within seconds, Charlie's voice came across the phone.
"This is Charlie." He said.
"Charlie," Greenlee smiled, "how are you?"
"Miss Greenlee, what can I do for you?"
"I need to go into town this afternoon to pick up a dress, think you can help me out?"
"That's my job, isn't it?"
"You know I hate to feel like I'm using you."
"And you, Greenlee, know that I would willingly help you with anything."
"Then I'll see you outside in ten minutes?"
"Certaintly. I'll bring the car around immediatly."
"Thanks Charlie."
Greenlee grabbed her purse and walked down the hall again. The boys were still shut up in their room, which was really starting to get on her nerves, but she continued on down the stairs, all three flights, and then rushed out the door. She didn't want anyone to know where she was going because, unlike her cousins, Greenlee liked keeping everything a surprise.
When she got to the ritzy New York store, the greeters happily welcomed her. They quickly yelled into their head pieces, "One of the Smyth girls is here, assistance immediatly please! Immediatly!"
Within seconds, a "fitter" (as they are called) was at Greenlee's side.
"Oh look at your figure, you little doll, you! Short, yes.. hm, but your hair is just gorgeous, and those eyes, oh nice hips, nice hips," The woman seemed to be muttering to herself as she ran circles around Greenlee, "Yes, yes, I have the perfect dress for you."
The woman rushed off and a different woman guided Greenlee to the fitting room, where she was met up once again with the first woman, who had a very festive autumn dress.
"It's brown." Greenlee said.
"Isn't it beautiful? With the yellows and red and oranges. It's the perfect fall dress, and it matches your eyes and hair perfectly."
Greenlee cleared her throat as she pushed the dress away, "It's not fall, it's winter."
The woman stared, blinking for a moment; then said, "Winter! Ah, yes!" And she promptly rushed away again.
Seconds later she was back with a white dress frosted in blue sparkles with several frills and edgy angles.
"This is one of our more unique pieces," the woman began, but Greenlee quickly interupted, "It's too candyland for my taste."
"Did you say Candyland?" The fitter stared dumbly at her, "As in, the children's board game?"
"Yeah, you know, Queen Frostine. That dress is way too Queen Frostine."
The woman repeated her staring and blinking reaction from before, then once again rushed away. Greenlee sighed. She took the oppertunity to wander out of the dressing room and onto the main floor of the department store. An aid rushed up, "Can I help you?" She asked.
"No," Greenlee said. "I want to look for myself."
As she looked through the racks of dresses, she wondered why nothing was catching her eye. They were all very nice. She took an angelic looking dress from the rack, considered it for a moment, but then decided that it was too predictable and put it back. She'd gone as an angel at least four times in the past.
Then she found a dazzling tiger-themed dress, but again, something about it didn't sit well with her.
Greenlee whirled around when she felt a tap on her shoulder. The fitter was standing there with a dress underneath a plastic cover.
"I think I've got it now," She grinned happily. She pulled the plastic cover off and Greenlee was awestruck as she stared at the most radiant and ravishing dress she'd ever seen.
It was a princess dress, fit for an empress. It reminded her of the dress she wore when she was thirteen, when Josh was her date, except it was much more sightly.
"I'll take it." She said quickly.
"I knew you'd love it!" The fitter said excitedly, then rushed off to ring it up at the cash register. The total was a mind blowing $4,320; but Greenlee simply charged it to her father's credit card. He offered, after all...
So as soon as Greenlee was sure she could find her dad alone, she took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the master bedroom door.
"Nothing more, Rose. Good night." Roger's voice called.
"No, dad," Greenlee felt her hands trembling. Was it supposed to be this hard for a girl to talk to her dad?
"It's me. Greenlee."
There was a slight shuffle sound, immediately followed by the door swinging open. Roger was wearing his purple robe. Purple for royalty, of course.
"Ah, Greenlee, come in!"
Greenlee stopped shaking. He was in a good mood, which was a major relief. She stepped inside the grand master bedroom. It was quite possibly the nicest room in the entire house, though none of the guests ever saw it.
Mossy hues on the walls established a soothing tone that settled Greenlee's soul. More than twenty fabrics were used for the suite's draperies, bedding, and upholstered pieces, all assorted with beautiful, soft shades of green. The furniture included a mix of custom, antique, and store-bought pieces. This room was for the most part off-limits to Greenlee as a child, but she used to sneak in all the time...
"Hey daddy," She hugged him. "How's Christmas been treating you?"
"Splendid." He said coolly, "This year sure has been something, hasn't it?"
"You have no idea..."
Greenlee hopped up on the bed.
"How's your Christmas been this year, dear?" He took a seat in his chair, starting to prepare a pipe.
"It's been great, the house looks wonderful as always, and everyone is so happy."
"Yes. This is my favorite time of year."
He lit his pipe.
"Really? How come?"
"Because the entire family gathers and fights are kept to a minimum. There's always fights on Easter and Thanksgiving."
"Yeah, well, it's hard to keep this bunch happy sometimes."
Greenlee idly smoothed out the soft fabric of the blankets on the bed with her hand.
"Dad," She paused to clear her throat, "I want to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"It's the house."
"Yes, what about it?"
"You know our deal?"
"About the house?"
"I mean, the inheritance thing." Greenlee was feeling nervous again.
"Well, what about it?" He asked.
"I don't know if it's really, well... fair."
"Now, Greenlee, we made an agreement on this long before you were born."
"That's kind of my point. You just assumed you'd be having a son, you didn't plan for a daughter."
Roger fell silent. He puffed his pipe, staring off at seemingly nothing. Greenlee could tell she had upset him.
"Sorry daddy. Good night." She stood up and began to leave, but he stopped her.
"Greenlee, wait. There's something your mom and I never told you."
Greenlee stopped. She turned around slowly.
"What..?"
"Have you ever wondered why you're an only child?"
"Mom told me..." Greenlee's lips trembled, "She said she had trouble conceiving..."
"That's right. It was supposed to be impossible for her."
"Impossible?" Greenlee was nervously fidgeting with her fingers.
"Yes. Your mother..." He paused and sighed, "...this is hard for me to tell you."
Greenlee's heart was racing, "Was I... adopted?" She blurted out.
Roger looked surprised, "Oh, no, no, Greenlee. That's not what I was getting at at all."
"Then what is it?"
"You had a brother."
She froze.
"D-did I just hear you right? I have a brother?"
Roger took a deep breath before going on.
"You had a brother, honey. An older brother. When your mother gave birth there were serious complications, he died and your mother barely survived. After that the doctors told us it would be impossible for her to conceive."
Greenlee stood silent.
"You were a miracle. Born on the greenest and brightest day of spring. What was even more of a miracle was that there were absolutely no problems during birth, and your mother had a relatively short and painless labor."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Mary didn't want you to know."
"I had no idea, daddy... I'm, I'm sorry I brought it up."
"No, dear, it's alright. You were right to wonder about the will."
"But I still don't understand..."
Roger sighed, "Your mother and I feel like we would be cheating our son if we gave what was rightfully his away for nothing."
Greenlee's mouth dropped slightly, she felt like he had just slapped her across the face.
"I'm just as much your child as he was, you know." She said becoming annoyed, "And anyway, he's dead. Do you think he'll really care?" Greenlee was beginning to speak out of anger.
"What does me getting married have to do with any of it? Do you even realize how stupid this is?"
Roger wasn't surprised by her distemper.
"I didn't think you cared about the money that much."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Greenlee, as soon as you were eight-teen you left. You moved to California to try and get as far away from as you could. That doesn't really show me that you have any interest in getting this house."
She couldn't argue with that one.
"When you get married, then I'll know that you've grown up. You wouldn't marry just anyone for the sake of just anything. I know you'll make the right decision when it comes to men, you always have. When you eventually do get married, I know you'll be ready to take on this house. But I would never imagine of giving it to you as you are now."
Another slap. That could even count as two.
Greenlee kissed her father's cheek goodbye, then left the room, carefully closing the door behind her.
After she was back in her room, she laid in bed for many hours pondering over what she had just been told. She thought about her brother, about what he would have looked like. She thought about what her mother must have gone through after he died, and she thought about how happy it must have been when she came around.
With a deep and heavy sigh, she wished more than anything that the next two days would pass by quickly. She couldn't wait to go home to Pine Valley.
- Chapter 10 -
Today was the day. The only day that actually made Christmas worth the trip. The day that everything was different from how it usually was. The day of the Masquerade.
Greenlee knew that tonight everyone would be dressed up, and she wouldn't be able to tell her cousin Jimmy from her cousin Josh. She wouldn't be able to tell Uncle David from her Uncle Sean, her Aunt Kelly from her Aunt Maria, Andrew Crandlemire from Leo Du`pres.
Woah. Wait a second.
What if she really couldn't tell which was Leo, and which was Andrew? She suddenly started to panic. They were the same height and about the same build, but Leo was a bit skinner perhaps.
"Oh damn, why does their hair have to be the same color?" she muttered to herself.
Of course, she could probably just find out from Amy. Amy, Annie, Teresa, Jacky, Olivia and Mady had a tradition of ruining eachother's evenings by finding out who was who. Not like it was hard or anything, they just couldn't help but model off their costumes to eachother. It was very possible that one of them knew how Andrew would be dressed.
Wait, did Greenlee really want to stoop to that level? Yes. Yes she did.
Greenlee found two of her cousin's having a snack in the kitchen, "Hey Amy, Annie."
"Hey Greenlee," Annie said. Amy didn't even turn around.
"Hey, Aimes, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was clearly jealous, don't you think?"
Amy whirled around on her stool; you could tell by her expression that her brain suddenly had some sort of revolutionary thought and she realized for the first time in her life that maybe, just maybe, Greenlee had been jealous of her. Of course Greenlee hadn't been really, she just said that to avoid more angry words.
Amy let out a little laugh, clearly fake, "Oh Greenlee, how silly of you."
"Yeah, I'm pretty silly. So do you guys know what Andrew will be wearing to the Masquerade?"
Amy's expression returned to it's familiar hostile state.
"I don't," Annie said.
"Why do you want to know?" Amy asked.
"So I can avoid him." She said, which was entirely true. The guy didn't seem half bad now that she was getting to know the real him, but she still didn't want to get stuck dancing with him. She wanted to track down Leo and make sure she was dancing with him when that clock struck midnight.
"I don't know what he'll be wearing."
"Shouldn't you find out?"
"Why, isn't the point of this so it's a surprise?" Annie said.
"Yeah. You guys know about the chiming clock as well as I though."
Annie and Amy both rolled their eyes simutaniously, "Oh yes, we know." they said together.
"Wouldn't it suck to be dancing with, I don't know, your brother when the clock chimed?"
Amy glanced at Annie. Annie glanced at Amy.
Amy stuck her tongue out, "They wouldn't really make me kiss Josh, would they?"
Annie shook her head quickly, "No way."
The "chiming clock" was a tradition that the family had amused itself with for generations. The Masquerade dancing lasts until midnight and when the clock gongs it's last on the twelth hour, everyone stops dancing. The music is stopped, and a frightfully unusual silence hovers for about ten seconds. At this time, the person you are dancing with removes your mask (male always removes female first, followed by the female removing the males) and then they give eachother a kiss as a sign of love, respect, or just appreciation. Greenlee always thought it was stupid, and she wondered how year after year the amusing situation of a brother and sister accidently dancing together had not yet happened. She almost laughed out loud at the thought of Josh and Amy as they removed eachother's masks...
"That's never happened before," Annie said interupting Greenlee's thoughts, "so there's no reason for it to happen now."
Amy nodded in agreement, trying to console herself more than anyone else, then she said, "I'll make a deal with you, Greens."
Greenlee's ears perked, "What kind of deal?" she asked suspiciously.
"You found out what Andrew will be dressed as, and I'll find out what - what's his name? Luke?"
"Leo?"
"Yes, I'll find out what Leo is dressing as."
"Why would I want to know what Leo is dressing as?"
A small smile crept across Greenlee's lips as she watched Amy's face fill with frustration.
"Because you like him. Duh!"
"Yeah, Greenlee, you guys are always sneaking off into the library together." Annie added.
Greenlee rolled her eyes; she should of figured her cousins would notice something like that and take it completely the wrong way.
"Leo's a good friend."
"Friend? Right. Listen, when you're ready to admit your feelings for this guy and you desperatly want to know who he is at the dance, then you come find me, okay?" Amy got up off her stool and strolled casually out of the kitchen, feeling proud of herself by thinking she had proved some sort of big point. Just as she left, Jacky and Olivia came bouncing in, holding their dresses safely protected under black trash bags.
"Annie, come look at my dress! It's absolutly gorgeous!" Olivia shrieked.
Greenlee took that oppertunity to slip out of the kitchen, suddenly realizing that she didn't have a dress. It wouldn't be hard to find one, it was just the pain of having to drive all the way out to the city for a stupid dress. Oh, who was she kidding? She couldn't wait to pick out a fabulous costume that would blow Leo's socks off!
Greenlee was hurrying up the stairs that connected the second and third floors. When she reached the top, she could hear laughing in the first bedroom to the right. It was loud, and it was clearly Jimmy's. She shook her head, wondering what Josh and Jim were up to now. Then she came to an abrupt halt when she heard what she swore was Leo's laugh mixed in as well. She took a couple steps back and put her ear up to the door. She could hear muffled voices.
"....if she misses this, then she's blind...."
"...are you guys sure about this..."
"...she'll get it, Greens is a smart girl..."
"What!?" Greenlee said aloud. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
"Did you hear that?" Josh's voice said in a whisper.
Greenlee wasted no time in bolting down the hall and dashing quickly into her room. She immediatly picked up the phone that was sitting on her night stand. She pushed the # key and patiently waited as it rung.
"Extension number?" An electronic voice answered.
Greenlee pushed the five.
"Thank you. Please hold."
Within seconds, Charlie's voice came across the phone.
"This is Charlie." He said.
"Charlie," Greenlee smiled, "how are you?"
"Miss Greenlee, what can I do for you?"
"I need to go into town this afternoon to pick up a dress, think you can help me out?"
"That's my job, isn't it?"
"You know I hate to feel like I'm using you."
"And you, Greenlee, know that I would willingly help you with anything."
"Then I'll see you outside in ten minutes?"
"Certaintly. I'll bring the car around immediatly."
"Thanks Charlie."
Greenlee grabbed her purse and walked down the hall again. The boys were still shut up in their room, which was really starting to get on her nerves, but she continued on down the stairs, all three flights, and then rushed out the door. She didn't want anyone to know where she was going because, unlike her cousins, Greenlee liked keeping everything a surprise.
When she got to the ritzy New York store, the greeters happily welcomed her. They quickly yelled into their head pieces, "One of the Smyth girls is here, assistance immediatly please! Immediatly!"
Within seconds, a "fitter" (as they are called) was at Greenlee's side.
"Oh look at your figure, you little doll, you! Short, yes.. hm, but your hair is just gorgeous, and those eyes, oh nice hips, nice hips," The woman seemed to be muttering to herself as she ran circles around Greenlee, "Yes, yes, I have the perfect dress for you."
The woman rushed off and a different woman guided Greenlee to the fitting room, where she was met up once again with the first woman, who had a very festive autumn dress.
"It's brown." Greenlee said.
"Isn't it beautiful? With the yellows and red and oranges. It's the perfect fall dress, and it matches your eyes and hair perfectly."
Greenlee cleared her throat as she pushed the dress away, "It's not fall, it's winter."
The woman stared, blinking for a moment; then said, "Winter! Ah, yes!" And she promptly rushed away again.
Seconds later she was back with a white dress frosted in blue sparkles with several frills and edgy angles.
"This is one of our more unique pieces," the woman began, but Greenlee quickly interupted, "It's too candyland for my taste."
"Did you say Candyland?" The fitter stared dumbly at her, "As in, the children's board game?"
"Yeah, you know, Queen Frostine. That dress is way too Queen Frostine."
The woman repeated her staring and blinking reaction from before, then once again rushed away. Greenlee sighed. She took the oppertunity to wander out of the dressing room and onto the main floor of the department store. An aid rushed up, "Can I help you?" She asked.
"No," Greenlee said. "I want to look for myself."
As she looked through the racks of dresses, she wondered why nothing was catching her eye. They were all very nice. She took an angelic looking dress from the rack, considered it for a moment, but then decided that it was too predictable and put it back. She'd gone as an angel at least four times in the past.
Then she found a dazzling tiger-themed dress, but again, something about it didn't sit well with her.
Greenlee whirled around when she felt a tap on her shoulder. The fitter was standing there with a dress underneath a plastic cover.
"I think I've got it now," She grinned happily. She pulled the plastic cover off and Greenlee was awestruck as she stared at the most radiant and ravishing dress she'd ever seen.
It was a princess dress, fit for an empress. It reminded her of the dress she wore when she was thirteen, when Josh was her date, except it was much more sightly.
"I'll take it." She said quickly.
"I knew you'd love it!" The fitter said excitedly, then rushed off to ring it up at the cash register. The total was a mind blowing $4,320; but Greenlee simply charged it to her father's credit card. He offered, after all...